Network computing: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 22:24, 22 March 2005

Revision as of 01:14, 5 June 2005

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With the advent of the [[World Wide Web]], any server became a centralized data repository, and any browser could turn a computer into a [[thin client]]. [[Web services]], for example [[Webmail]] services such as [[Hotmail]], reduced the personal information kept on a client machine, and allowed people more mobility and personal information security.

In a sense, web browsers and web services made Network Computing for the masses. But it wasn't a full computing experience, of the sort normally provided by [[Personal computer]]s, and of the kind which Network Computing had promised. In 1999, an AT&T/Olivetti laboratory released screen mirroring software that worked in a web browser, and they dubbed this [[Virtual Network Computing]] (VNC), to distinguish it from commercial Network Computing requiring special [[Thin client]] hardware. Within months of [[VNC]]'s release, Network Computing for the masses finally became available as a web service: a small start-up called [[Workspot]] provided VNC connection to [[Linux]]-based desktops.

[[Category:Computer networks]]